Labor's Bookstore does a pretty good job when it comes to providing the books and Zoom trtainings that union stewards and local union leaders need to do their jobs effectively. We have featured their products and trainings on this blog in the past.
There is something painfully frustrating in hearing local union leaders and stewards complain that they're lost or getting buried in their work or feeling cut off from their union or union resources. "No one listens!" and "No one helps!" and "No one comes to meetings!" and "I don't know what I'm doing!" are common complaints. Often these complaints are less about not having help and resources and are more about cries for help. We're dropping the ball somewhere, the steward or local union leader is frustrated or disappointed and doesn't want to do the work alone, the union needs a functioning representative in the workplace and the member-leader is caught between feeling responsible to their coworkers and the union and feeling as if they're failing. Neither the union nor the member-leader speaks a language of solidarity, struggle, and power-building. A smart HR person has their ear to the ground and picks off the member-leader and the union takes a hit.
If giving someone a book or sending them off to a training solved the problems at hand we would have almost no problems. Most unions have good training resources, though these may be buried in a closet or in the trunk of a staffperson's car. We're less good about supporting our people who hold positions in locals and who do the daily work in the workplaces, even if that work is most often about showing up with the right attitude and being willing and able to listen. Our failed relationship with labor education and supporting or mermber-leaders is systemic, and this makes us vulnerable.
By all means, give folks books and send them to trainings and use Labor's Bookstore as a primary resource. Local union leaders can take this on themselves if that's necessary. But we set ourselves up for failure if this is our idea of education or self-education. A better movement would develop a curriculum, have regular check-ins with local leaders and activists, teach people how to develop their own learning in cooperation with one another, give people the means and the resp[onsibilities of learning in groups, and put activists in direct contact with one another and back this up with resources. We often pass by existing leaders or potential leaders in worksites in a rush to get immediate tasks done, and we do so without giving enough thought to who and what leaders are and the existing models of leadership that people are familiar with and can work with. We need to be patient and deliberative in all that we do.
Empower your mind this Labor Day with educational books that celebrate the history and strength of organized labor. Knowledge is our tool, solidarity our foundation!
Visit our website to view our collection. Enter code LABOR2024 at checkout and receive a 20% discount on your entire order! Sale ends 9/3/2023 @ noon!
